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Friday, May 6, 2011

Hard Work Ahead For Palestinian Unity

By Tom Perry from Ramallah
This commentary was published in The Gulf Times on 06/05/2011

The Palestinians’ path to unity is strewn with obstacles that have thwarted past efforts at reconciliation between rival groups Hamas and Fatah and could do so again.

Whether the groups can overcome the challenges this time will likely depend on the course of regional upheaval that brought them this far, leading to what one analyst said was a deal forged out of “necessity rather than conviction”.

The deal endorsed in Cairo on Wednesday presents a united front as the Palestinians seek UN recognition as an independent state in September. But it offers no clear solutions to some of the toughest problems faced by Fatah and Hamas.

Their conflict has resulted in rival administrations governing the West Bank and the Gaza Strip and has set back the Palestinians’ quest for statehood.

Early signs do not bode well. Hamas says PA security forces that have suppressed its activists in the West Bank have detained six sympathisers since its leader Khalid Mishal met Fatah chief and PA President Mahmoud Abbas in Egypt.

Managing security in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip is seen as one of the potential pitfalls in “the understandings” reached under the mediation of Egypt’s new military rulers who took power from Hosni Mubarak in February.

Security will not be on the agenda of a new, technocratic government envisioned under the agreement. Its main tasks will be Gaza reconstruction and holding elections within a year.

For now, the sides appear to have shelved the question of exactly how internal security forces operated by the rival administrations can be united. De facto, that means Hamas will continue to control the Gaza Strip.

“You will have a government governing two different situations,” said Hani al-Masri, a Palestinian political commentator closely involved in the reconciliation efforts.

“This landmine will mean the new government will manage rather than end the division,” he said.

The sides have agreed to the formation of a “supreme security council”, though the Cairo understandings do not state what it will do.

With the help of its Western allies, the Palestinian Authority has built new security forces trained to keep law and order in West Bank cities and prevent any repeat of what happened in Gaza in 2007, when Hamas seized control there.

Hamas, in turn, has developed its own security forces in Gaza, while also maintaining a military wing designed for armed conflict with Israel - an objective openly opposed by Abbas who believes in negotiations over combat.

The Cairo agreement does not indicate how the rivals will reconcile that fundamental difference in approach to Israel that lies at the heart of their division, though Masri said the deal indicated Hamas had de facto decided to a ceasefire for now.

The understandings are also not clear on the role of a new Palestinian leadership body designed to run affairs until the reform of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) - another issue that has long thwarted attempts to forge unity.

The PLO is the umbrella organisation led by Abbas which has led negotiations with Israel over the past two decades. Hamas is not a member. The Cairo agreement talks of a temporary leadership body whose decisions “cannot be obstructed”. Hamas will be part of it, but it is not clear what power it will have. It could take months for the rivals to agree on the make-up of the technocratic government of independents outlined in the deal, though this is seen as doable.

By keeping Hamas out of the government and keeping it out of politics, the Palestinians hope to avoid a repeat of the Western boycott faced by the Palestinian Authority when Hamas won legislative elections in 2006. It may not be that simple.

The PA’s Western donors, including the US, have said the new government must commit to conditions including recognition of Israel and the renunciation of violence - terms Hamas will not accept.

Israel, which has described the unity deal as a blow to peace, has already taken action, freezing transfers of tax revenues it collects on behalf of the Palestinian Authority.

Bassem Zubaidi, a Palestinian political commentator, said “external obstacles” erected by Israel or the PA’s donors could pose another major challenge to the unity agreement.

To forge real agreement on the issues at the heart of the division, including a common political agenda, would take years, he added. “These matters are big and very complicated and will not be implemented overnight,” he said.

“But they can start with small steps, such as forming the government and holding elections.”

About Me

I graduated from the French University in Beirut (St Joseph) specialising in Political and Economic Sciences. I started my working life in 1973 as a reporter and journalist for the pan-Arab magazine “Al-Hawadess” in Lebanon later becoming its Washington, D.C. correspondent. I subsequently moved to London in 1979 joining “Al-Majallah” magazine as its Deputy Managing Editor. In 1984 joined “Assayad” magazine in London initially as its Managing Editor and later as Editor-in-Chief. Following this, in 1990 I joined “Al-Wasat” magazine (part of the Dar-Al-Hayat Group) in London as a Managing Editor. In 2011 I became the Editor-In-Chief of Miraat el-Khaleej (Gulf Mirror). In July 2012 I became the Chairman of The Board of Asswak Al-Arab Publishing Ltd in UK and the Editor In Chief of its first Publication "Asswak Al-Arab" Magazine (Arab Markets Magazine) (www.asswak-alarab.com).

I have already authored five books. The first “The Tears of the Horizon” is a love story. The second “The Winter of Discontent in The Gulf” (1991) focuses on the first Gulf war sparked by Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait. His third book is entitled “Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: From Balfour Promise to Bush Declaration: The Complications and the Road to a Lasting Peace” (March 2008). The fourth book is titled “How Iran Plans to Fight America and Dominate the Middle East” (October 2008) And the fifth and the most recent is titled "JIHAD'S NEW HEARTLANDS: Why The West Has Failed To Contain Islamic Fundamentalism" (May 2011).

Furthermore, I wrote the memoirs of national security advisor to US President Ronald Reagan, Mr Robert McFarlane, serializing them in “Al-Wasat” magazine over 14 episodes in 1992.

Over the years, I have interviewed and met several world leaders such as American President Bill Clinton, British Prime Minister Margaret Thacher, Late King Hassan II of Morocco, Late King Hussein of Jordan,Tunisian President Zein El-Abedine Bin Ali, Lybian Leader Moammar Al-Quadhafi,President Amine Gemayel of Lebanon,late Lebanese Prime Minister Rafic Hariri, Late Palestinian Chairman Yasser Arafat, Haitian President Jean Claude Duvalier, Late United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan,Algerian President Shazli Bin Jdid, Jamaican Prime Minister Edward Siyagha and more...